Ever Gold opened a new solo show by NYC based Henry Gunderson a couple Saturday nights ago and it was literally packed. So packed I couldn't actually see most of the art - but a big crowd doesn't seem like a problem. I got a good laugh at what I would call the 'cock climbing wall' as it was one of the few pieces I could see over the crowd. I haven't gotten a chance to go back and check it all out again, but I'm definitely going to as the paintings that I could get a peek at were really high quality and intruiguing. You should do the same.

In the frenzy of spring and approaching warmer weather, this incredibly subtle show is a nice break from the chaos. It's like a peaceful stroll through an empty park, filled with pastels and serene environments. It was surprising just how much differentiation these guys could get into such a small space with such minimal work, but they managed to show paintings, photographs and even a projection in the small back room. It's definitely worth a peek if you're in the downtown area over the next couple of weeks.

A week ago Friday night, Ever Gold Gallery opened New York-based Adam Parker Smith's newest show Forever 21. The small space was packed with people, and I could very quickly see why; the work is really extraordinary. The only thing I wish was that there was more space to see more of his work, because it is impressive. But this is San Francisco, so space isn't exactly readily available, and Ever Gold balanced the available space perfectly by not overwhelming it with too many pieces. Furthermore, the intimacy of the space really added to the experience.

The gallery door opens to a small entrance space with a sculpture of a VW Bug inside a glass bottle as well as a fabric/painted piece reminiscent of Blinky Palermo's compositions. The VW Bug inside the bottle is painted to every detail, including a hole in the windshield with painted cracks extending from it. The car itself is a detailed sculpture, but placed within the bottle (somehow) it became an outrageously intriguing item. The draped fabric piece with its peachy hue was a great transition into the main gallery, where Smith shows his other sculptures. Unlike the Bug, these sculptures are direct references to gynecological genitalia, but become abject body parts rather than sexual references. These forms are made of foam, bound by rope and remove the fragment of the vagina from the rest of the body, creating a non-sexualized form. Instead of insinuating a sexual viewing of the work, these sculptures allowed pure formal interpretation. Then, placed on marble-like columns, which were bound by bungee cords and emphasized as not being actually marble, these genital forms were raised to classical standards of fine art. This was further connected to the draped front piece, which can either relate to classical dress or another sexual body part, without overt reference.

The rest of the show consists of other sculptures including the whimsical (Untitled) Kanye Shades which is a set of white window blinds cut into the shape of sunglasses. Shown on a white wall, the contrast between the piece and the wall is subtle, and the humor is muted, but insistently present. Also, the monochrome wall helped to balance its opposite wall which was hung with a "marriage proposal" made of sewn-together friendship bracelets. The texture and color of this piece are significant alone, but there is a complex meaning implicit in the fact that they are friendship bracelets and instead of symbolizing one relationship, it includes the connection of thousands.

Finally, the back room of the gallery is tiny, but provides the perfect space for what is displayed. The bodily innuendo of the show is continued with a floor sculpture of a watermelon with an inviting, glowing pink hole. The last corner holds what looks like an altar, with some really complex pieces inside of it. These works look like a poster hung on the outside of your bathroom window, to which you see through the steam after your shower by wiping away the condensation the glass. I am completely clueless as to how he achieved this look, but my god is it effective. Some works have writing and some are just cleared spaces to the poster, but no one could miss out on it; we've all wiped away steam from our mirrors, but more often, we do it to see ourselves, not celebrities who are usually displayed transparently.

Smith's work is so complex that much more could be said about it, but truthfully words don't do it justice – these pieces must be seen in person. I can't wait for the opportunity to see Smith's work in the large space of a museum, which I'm sure is just around the corner for him. For now, Ever Gold has done a great job in showing as much work as possible, and it must have been very difficult to narrow what works would be included in the show, because like me, I'm sure they just want to keep seeing more.

In a stale state as the SF art scene is, the most successful art dealer and gallery owner in America, Water McBeer is a breath of fresh air to invigorate this horrible mess. His currated show at Ever Gold opens this Saturday July 30th (6-10pm).

First off, tell me some things about yourself and your history/ background in the arts?

My name is Water McBeer owner and founder of The Water McBeer Gallery, a small gallery space dedicated to art excellence. I have also been a prominent art dealer for over 28 years. I received my BA in business economics and my MFA in art criticism from the San Francisco Art Institute and went on to become the most successful art dealer in America. I was raised by my teenage parents in a small hippie commune in Northern California hence the name Water. At the age of 14 I inherited my distant grandfather's extraordinary art collection of over 500 pieces from the most important artists of the 20th century. I own the most valuable art collection of any private collector in San Francisco and my extraordinary Self-confidence, determination and belief in personal freedom have made me the most successful art dealer and gallery owner in America.

What initially got you interested in starting an art gallery?

Well, I've done just about everything, made billions of dollars traveled the world, won a game of golf against Bill Clinton, partied with every celebrity, own 15 cars, a 195 foot yacht, 3 mansions and so it was the only thing left to do.

Can you tell me more about the art you inherited?

My grandfather collected everything from Van Gough to Duchamp and over his lifetime built up an impressive collection among the collections trophies is Pablo Picasso self-portrait yo, Picasso. His collection was worth 1.5 billion dollars. He had an eye for great art. I not only inhereted his collection, but his impeccable sense of taste.

Why did you choose San Francisco, rather than NYC or LA to open a gallery?

Sadly San Francisco stands no chance against LA or NYC. It is my goal to show world class artists in my gallery to highlight San Francisco's artists among the rest of the art world so that they may shine bright in a sea of art darkness. I am here to save San Francisco from its artistic doom and stimulate the art economy with my wealth and power.

It's pretty noble of you to invest your time and money in an art gallery, what are some of your long term goals for the gallery?

I foresee a future of endless possibilities for the Water McBeer Gallery and its artists. I am investing in the future of the San Francisco art community, a future of great wealth and boundless creative expression.

Our friends at Ever Gold Gallery in the TL have themselves a very complete March w/ their Gentlemen's club with 5 events throughout the month featuring one night performance from a variety of artists, performers, and musicians. In the tradition of San Francisco clubs like the Bohemian Club. The Ever Gold Gentleman's Club will play host to a diverse and distinctive array of speakers, artists, performers, thinkers, musicians, hunters and drunks.

Our friends @Ever Gold have started a January residency program where artists are invited and encouraged to spend 3 weeks in the space creating site-specific work. SF based Chris Ritson (BFA from the SFAI) opens In the Kingdom of Charisma featuring a swath of crystal growing-ness in the gallery.

PR says Through installation, video and images created by growing crystals, organisms and media collages, Chris Ritson represents the nuances of how we construct an individual identity distinct from the vast cosmology that animates our lives. ~more info & photos.

Went and checked out the opening of these two great shows recently opened at Ever Gold in SF's Tenderloin Dist. Really like Mark Mulroney's work and should have picked up a piece or two as the prices are really reasonable. You read the interview with Mark yet?

I'm not sure how many people are lucky enough to have The San Francisco Giants 3 World Series trophies put on display at their work for the company's employees to enjoy during their lunch break, but that's what happened the other day at Deluxe. So great.

When works of art become commodities and nothing else, when every endeavor becomes “creative” and everybody “a creative,” then art sinks back to craft and artists back to artisans—a word that, in its adjectival form, at least, is newly popular again. Artisanal pickles, artisanal poems: what’s the difference, after all? So “art” itself may disappear: art as Art, that old high thing. Which—unless, like me, you think we need a vessel for our inner life—is nothing much to mourn.

Hard-working artisan, solitary genius, credentialed professional—the image of the artist has changed radically over the centuries. What if the latest model to emerge means the end of art as we have known it? --continue reading

"[Satire] is important because it brings out the flaws we all have and throws them up on the screen of another person," said Turner. “How they react sort of shows how important that really is.” Later, he added, "Charlie took a hit for everybody." -read on

NYC --- A new graffiti abatement program put forth by the police commissioner has beat cops carrying cans of spray paint to fill in and cover graffiti artists work in an effort to clean up the city --> Many cops are thinking it's a waste of resources, but we're waiting to see someone make a project of it. Maybe instructions for the cops on where to fill-in?

The NYPD is arming its cops with cans of spray paint and giving them art-class-style lessons to tackle the scourge of urban graffiti, The Post has learned.

Shootings are on the rise across the city, but the directive from Police Headquarters is to hunt down street art and cover it with black, red and white spray paint, sources said... READ ON

SAN FRANCISCO --- The Headlands Center for the Arts is preparing for their largest fundraiser of the year set to go down on June 4th at SOMArts here in the city. Art auction, food, drinks, live music, etc and all for helping to support a great institution up in the Marin Headlands. ~details

ABOUT HEADLANDSHeadlands Center for the Arts provides an unparalleled environment for the creative process and the development of new work and ideas. Through a range of programs for artists and the public, we offer opportunities for reflection, dialogue, and exchange that build understanding and appreciation for the role of art in society.

We haven't been featuring many interviews as of late. Let's change that up as we check in with a few local San Francisco artists like Kevin Earl Taylor here whom we studio visited back in 2009 (PHOTOS & VIDEO). It's been awhile, Kevin...

If you like guns and boobs, head on over to the Shooting Gallery; just don't expect the work to be all cheap ploys and hot chicks. With Make Stuff by Peter Gronquist (Portland) in the main space and Morgan Slade's Snake in the Eagle's Shadow in the project space, there is plenty spectacle to be had, but if you look just beyond it, you might actually get something out of the shows.

Fifty24SF opened Street Anatomy, a new solo show by Austrian artist Nychos a week ago last Friday night. He's been steadily filling our city with murals over the last year, with one downtown on Geary St. last summer, and new ones both in the Haight and in Oakland within the last few weeks, but it was really great to see his work up close and in such detail.

Congrats on our buddies at Needles and Pens on being open and rad for 11 years now. Mission Local did this little short video featuring Breezy giving a little heads up on what Needles and Pens is all about.

Matt Wagner recently emailed over some photos from The Hellion Gallery in Tokyo, who recently put together a show with AJ Fosik (Portland) called Beast From a Foreign Land. The gallery gave twelve of Fosik's sculptures to twelve Japanese artists (including Hiro Kurata who is currently showing in our group show Salt the Skies) to paint, burn, or build upon.

Backwoods Gallery in Melbourne played host to a huge group exhibition a couple of weeks back, with "Gold Blood, Magic Weirdos" Curated by Melbourne artist Sean Morris. Gold Blood brought together 25 talented painters, illustrators and comic artists from Australia, the US, Singapore, England, France and Spain - and marked the end of the Magic Weirdos trilogy, following shows in Perth in 2012 and London in 2013.

San Francisco based Fecal Pal Jeremy Fish opened his latest solo show Hunting Trophies at LA's Mark Moore Gallery last week to massive crowds and cabin walls lined with imagery pertaining to modern conquest and obsession.

Well, John Felix Arnold III is at it again. This time, he and Carolyn LeBourgios packed an entire show into the back of a Prius and drove across the country to install it at Superchief Gallery in NYC. I met with him last week as he told me about the trip over delicious burritos at Taqueria Cancun (which is right across the street from FFDG and serves what I think is the best burrito in the city) as the self proclaimed "Only overweight artist in the game" spilled all the details.

Ever Gold opened a new solo show by NYC based Henry Gunderson a couple Saturday nights ago and it was literally packed. So packed I couldn't actually see most of the art - but a big crowd doesn't seem like a problem. I got a good laugh at what I would call the 'cock climbing wall' as it was one of the few pieces I could see over the crowd. I haven't gotten a chance to go back and check it all out again, but I'm definitely going to as the paintings that I could get a peek at were really high quality and intruiguing. You should do the same.

The paintings in the show are each influenced by a musician, ranging from Freddy Mercury, to Madonna, to A Tribe Called Quest and they are so stylistically consistent with each musician's persona that they read as a cohesive body of work with incredible variation. If you told me they were each painted by a different person, I would not hesitate to believe you and it's really great to see a solo show with so much variety. The show is fun, poppy, very well done, and absolutely worth a look and maybe even a listen.

With rising rent in SF and knowing mostly other young artists without capitol, I desired a way to live rent free, have a space to do my craft, and get to see more of the world. Inspired by the many historical artists who have longed similar longings I discovered the beauty of artist residencies. Lilo runs Adhoc Collective in Vienna which not only has a fully equipped artists creative studio, but an indoor halfpipe, and private artist quarters. It was like a modern day castle or skate cathedral. It exists in almost a utopic state, totally free to those that apply and come with a real passion for both art and skateboarding

I just wanted to share with you a piece I recently finished which took me 4 years to complete. Titled "How To Lose Yourself Completely (The September Issue)", it consists of a copy of the September 2007 issue of Vogue magazine (the issue they made the documentary about) with all faces masked with a sharpie, and everything else entirely whited out. 840 pages of fun. -Bryan Schnelle

Jeremy Fish opens Hunting Trophies tonight, Saturday April 5th, at the Los Angeles based Mark Moore Gallery. The show features new work from Fish inside the "hunting lodge" where viewers climb inside the head of the hunter and explore the history of all the animals he's killed.

Beautiful piece entitled "The Albatross and the Shipping Container", Ink on Paper, Mounted to Panel, 47" Diameter, by San Francisco based Martin Machado now on display at FFDG. Stop in Saturday (1-6pm) to view the group show "Salt the Skies" now running through April 19th. 2277 Mission St. at 19th.

For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to quit my job, move out of my house, leave everything and travel again. So on August 21, 2013 I pushed a canoe packed full of gear into the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Lake Itasca, Minnesota, along with four of my best friends. Exactly 100 days later, I arrived at a marina near the Gulf of Mexico in a sailboat.

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